California Vacation-Part 2

So, the icing on the cake for this vacation was Disneyland!  We got an awesome deal on tickets thanks to the Air Force (I should say thanks to my dad being in the Air Force), plus Piper was free so we only needed 4 tickets.  My mom actually agreed to take three days off of teaching school the week after her Spring Break to come with us.  I really don’t think we could have done it without her.  It was awesome having an adult for every kid.  We did miss Papa, though but there’s no way his new knee would have held up with all that walking.

Our first ride was Alice in Wonderland since it had a really short line.  And who did we run into?  Our neighbors.  We actually ran into another neighbor as we came off the elevator at our hotel the night before.  And we saw 5 other families from our ward.  I should also mention that anyone going to Disneyland needs to have an iPhone.  Seriously awesome.  Mark downloaded the app for wait times and it helped a ton.  So, with fast passes and the cool app, our waiting time was minimal for any ride.  So different than when I use to come to Disneyland as a kid.

Here are the girls on the tea cups. 

And I’m quite proud to say that this picture was indicative of all three days at the park.  Téa was always looking out for her little sisters.

And I’m happy to report that Piper actually did fairly well.  Maybe it’s because I was just prepared for tantrums and crankiness, but she surprised me and did really well.  Although, this picture was taken on our third ride on the first day…I can’t even remember what brought it on.  Probably something to do with not being able to do something her way. 

The carousel was a big hit, especially for Piper.  I think Mark lost count of how many times he went on it (that goes for the Small World ride too).

Piper loved It’s a Small World.  This face made it all worth while.  Even having to carry her from the hotel to Disneyland and back again.  She is not a light kid, by the way.  37.5 pounds to be exact.

We did rent a stroller there (thanks for the tip, Lisa) which was worth it.  But we still had to carry Piper through the lines.  I realized I didn’t take many pictures of the kids with Mark and me.  This was one of the better ones with Mark.

I should have gotten a picture of Mark with his cool new Indiana Jones hat.  So after the first day the favorite rides for Téa and Calista were Big Thunder Mtn. Railroad, Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Light Year, Small World, and the tea cups.  Mostly the girls just wanted to ride the roller coasters.  I convinced the older two that Space Mtn. would be awesome and not scary.  Um, I was wrong on that one.  They’ve totally changed it since the last time I went 11 year ago.  Poor Téa came off the ride with her knees shaking, pale as a ghost and could barely talk.  My mom was sure she was so scared she would pee her pants (but happy to report she didn’t).  Calista hated it too, but got over it pretty quick.  It took a good 20 minutes for Téa to come back to life. 

After Space Mtn. we headed to Matterhorn.  Téa wasn’t so sure about another roller coaster after I talked up Space Mtn. being awesome, so she was a bit hesitant to climb into the bobsled for Matterhorn.  Thankfully she loved it!  And thankfully my mom likes roller coasters as well.  I’m not sure how it would have worked with just me and the two girls for all the rides.  Mark doesn’t do roller coasters since he gets bad headaches from them so having my mom make an even number was great.  And she’s great company as well. 

Our second day was just as awesome.  While my mom, Piper and I went on some rides to give Mark a Piper-break, Mark took the girls to get this done…

He’s such a sucker.  The girls just have to bat their eyelashes at him and he caves. 

I made Mark try Indiana Jones ride (which he loved) with my mom, Téa and Calista.  I guess the 11 years since I’d been on that ride made me forget how dark and scary it was for little kids.  They came off the ride terrified (again).  But I told them over and over that I didn’t do it on purpose.  Téa believed me…sort of.  I vowed after that, that I wouldn’t make her go on anything else with questionable scariness.  So that meant Haunted Mansion was out for her.  Mark and I did take Piper on it.  She just covers her eyes and is fine.  It’s too bad the older girls wouldn’t go on it.  I love that ride. 

After a 3 hour break at the hotel in the afternoon we came back to the park and met up with Jordan, her daughter Eden who is Piper’s age, and her baby boy McKay.  They used to live across the street from us.  I’m glad we met up because she was taking her kids to see the Disney Jr. show over at California Adventure.  I never would have known about it and it ended up being the perfect thing for Piper.  It had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein's, Handy Manny and Jake and the Neverland Pirates in a 30 minute show.  It was heaven for her. 

After the show it was back to Disneyland park to hit more rides.  I took all the girls on the tea cups…a few times.  Piper and Eden couldn’t get enough.

Just before dark James (Jordan’s hubby) met up with us after work and it was time for more rides.  I broke out the glow-in-the-dark necklaces (also a Lisa idea) and the girls were all set for Disneyland at night. 

 

Oh, almost forgot our character pictures.  We only got two of them.  The girls didn’t want to wait in line to get pictures taken with anyone so we only stopped when no one was in line. 

 

Now that we are home the girls keep asking why we didn’t see any princesses.  Just another reason to go back again soon so we can see them.

Our last day was just until 2 pm.  My mom had to drive back to Lompoc to work the next day and we knew the kids wouldn’t last a full third day.  We hit the favorite rides, had lunch, hit a few more rides then spent oodles of hard-earned money on frivolous items from the Emporium shop.  I’m learning that Mark and I can’t say no very well when it comes to vacations and buying souvenirs. 

We finally got a family picture at the front of the park on our way out on the last day.  If we look tired, you know why.  And if you are tired of reading this post, I know why.  But I won’t apologize for the length.  “Toodles…”